Holocaust Memorial Day is being marked by a Whitehaven museum for the second year.

The Beacon Museum is featuring the mixed media work of artist Kevin Weaver throughout the first few months of 2019.

The Scottish-born artist, war correspondent and teacher has created an extremely moving exhibition, reflecting on his traumatic experiences of war-torn areas, including Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo.

Frizington-based Kevin created the work in the hopes of illustrating how war destroys lives and societies, and how even when conflicts settle, the aftermath of conflict continues to ruin lives.

The artist first became inspired to write about the effects of war after being shot while in Bosnia in 1992, with his colleague losing his leg in the same incident.

The then-war correspondent’s attachment to the conflict deepened when he met a family who had lost their father in the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. Kevin went to visit them many times after the war, helping them search for their father, all the while furthering his care for the people affected by war.

After such influential experiences, the former teacher began documenting the horrific time spent in Bosnia and other areas by taking pictures and writing articles when he was a journalist. He continued reporting on the conflicts he witnessed by writing two books, and he now expresses his experiences through art, poetry, and songs.

The 55-year-old opened his exhibition at The Beacon with an emotional introduction, explaining the background of his work, and also performed two of his original songs. I See Angels was the first to be performed, and focused on Kevin’s experience of PTSD, followed by War Has Broken Out, exploring the moment he was shot, and the start of the war in Bosnia.

Commenting on his art, Kevin said: “The music and art are a form of therapy – it’s really important to me."

Speaking of his intentions for the exhibition, and what he hopes to achieve by showcasing his work, Kevin explained: “Getting the message out about the continued injustices of war, and how it effects future generations, is so important to me."

His dreams are clearly being achieved, as the artist has had many compliments on his work, with visitors telling Kevin how moving the artwork is, and how important it was for people to see and understand.

Amnesty West Cumbria has provided case studies, sourced from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, to be featured alongside Kevin’s exhibition, drawing further attention to the horrors of war.

The case studies include modern-day stories, such as Eric Eugene Murangwa MBE’s flee from danger, and establishment of his organisation Football for Hope, Peace and Unity, and the experiences of Karim, whose village in Darfur was attacked in 2000, causing him to witness people being shot and ‘the attackers [doing] terrible things'.

Also featured are Holocaust case studies, including Helene Melanie Lebel, who was one of the 250,000 people killed by the Nazis for being physically or mentally disabled, with many more fascinating and heartbreaking stories to learn about when visiting the exhibition.

The Holocaust Memorial Day exhibition at the Whitehaven museum opened on January 18, and will run until March 17.